Chapter 266: Enemy Heroes, My Arch-Nemesis

The System Fairy rarely spoke up:

"Dear host, would you like to have a feast all to yourself? After scanning, I found that they seem to have skill books that you can use!"

The System Fairy connected to Duke's brain, and this near telepathic communication took almost no time.

"Skill books? What would I, a mage, want with a Blademaster's skill book? That giant cleaver is too heavy for me to even carry."

"I don't know, but the energy fluctuations on them partially match yours. If you can kill them individually, you might be able to extract skill books from their energy."

Wow! Really!?

At this moment, Duke became excited.

Duke roared!

What skills did the Blademaster have? Blademaster skills were vast.

But the core of the Blademaster was still those four skills.

[Wind Walk]So adept and agile are the Blademasters that they can move so quickly that they appear to be invisible to the naked eye.

[Mirror Image] could create illusions of the Blademaster to confuse opponents while dispelling all negative magic effects on oneself.

[Critical Strike] increased the chance of the Blademaster inflicting greater damage during an attack.

[Bladestorm] didn't even need explaining. Rapidly spinning blades could easily inflict heavy damage on all nearby enemy ground troops, making the Blademaster immune to magic.

Any one of these four skills could provide immense help to Duke.

For a moment, boundless ambition surged into Duke's heart.

Defeat the tycoons! Divide their land!

Oh, no!

It should be...

Defeat the boss! Loot their stuff!

In that instant, Duke's mind focused like never before, driven entirely by greed, a desire for power, and rage over his own death.

It was a mysterious and eerie, subtle mental distortion.

He didn't even notice the fleeting system notifications:

"Detected activation of [Greed] from the [Seven Deadly Sins]: You have developed an intense craving for something... Due to your overwhelming [Humanity], [Greed] has changed from a negative to a positive soul state... Transforming. You have gained temporary special abilities [Plunder] and [Luck]."

"[Plunder]: You can obtain more spoils of war from the enemies with status you kill. (Note: This can include spoils beyond the concept of the physical world.)"

"[Luck]: Even living enemies can be your luck. Because they are your stepping stone to promotion. Under the [Luck] state, you will have a higher chance of spell critical hits and better item drops."

Duke didn't notice, he really didn't.

All he knew was that his magic had been activated.

As the Blademasters ended their Bladestorms one after another, the [Rapid Avalanche]erupted. .

Countless water elementals poured into the massive Frost Barrier that Duke had created on the spot, combining with the Avalanche spell to transform the area where the Blademasters stood into a giant sphere of ice supported by dozens of icy pillars.

A semi-transparent layer of ice sealed off any entry or exit, while inside, the temperature plummeted rapidly, and a massive clockwise ice storm swept up everything within.

The Blademasters were frustrated to the point of spitting blood.

The impact of their Blade Storm ability was too great, and the aftermath of their rapid burst of power left them feeling weak. Just at that moment, their enemy unleashed a devastating attack. The unreasonable icy tornado didn't seem like the work of a Sky Mage. It could have been the work of a Morning Star, or even a Radiant Moon.

While Duke's freezing power wasn't particularly strong, the problem was that he had filled the barrier with numerous palm-sized, round ice shards. As the ice storm swirled, these shards turned into deadly blades, cutting into the Blademasters' flesh.

Under normal circumstances, the Blademasters could have evaded the attack before the spell took shape using various means. However, Duke timed his assault just after they had unleashed their powerful ability, leaving them no time to catch their breath.

Against other enemies, they could have activated Wind Walk and escaped. But where could they run now? Due to their weakened state, they were directly caught in the ice storm, losing control over their own bodies.

Blademasters were the elite among the Orcs, handpicked from hundreds. Compared to other Orcs, the attack power, speed, and agility of Blademasters were maximized to their full potential, felling trees and splitting boulders with a single strike. In contrast, their defense and vitality were no better than those of an ordinary human. And after unleashing their powerful ability, they were even weaker than a regular human.

The ice blades continuously created wounds on their bodies, and soon, the first Blademaster lost his life.

Then the second, the third...

The leading Blademaster's eyes were filled with rage, and he let out a furious roar.

"!"

Despite his weakness, and even though his arm felt incredibly sore, and swinging his blade brought the pain of muscles tearing apart, he still pressed on.

Relying on his stronger physique compared to the other Blademasters, he suddenly leaped onto a floating ice chunk, using the seemingly insignificant reaction force to propel himself out of the Frost Barrier's damage range like a meteor falling to the ground.

"You... only you... must die!" The Blademaster's face was covered in countless bloody trails, with frost covering the wounds inflicted by the razor-sharp ice blades. Before breaking through the barrier's range, ice blades had repeatedly slashed his face.

His chest was crisscrossed with scars, looking like a piece of meat about to be chopped apart. Only a small part of the red war flag on his back remained.

Only his longsword still shone brightly, and only in the remaining blood-red eye was there an endless surging battle intent.

Duke, with his head raised, gazed calmly at the Blademaster who was determined to deliver a deadly blow.

Duke suddenly admired him. Not everyone had the courage to infiltrate enemy lines and assassinate the enemy's leader.

Nor did everyone have the courage to launch a do-or-die charge against the enemy when there was still a chance to escape.

Had he chosen to flee, Duke might not have been able to catch up to him. But after seeing his brothers fall in battle, he chose to die alongside Duke.

He was a hero.

Unfortunately...

The enemy's hero was his nemesis!

Flames were not lethal to the Burning Blade Clan, and Duke had already used all of his frost circuits in the massive ice storm. So, what was left was... Arcane magic!

No longer hiding his true power, Duke formed a giant corridor with 108 Mage Hands. At one end was the Blademaster leader, and at the other end was Duke. To reach Duke, the Blademaster had to face the Arcane Missiles unleashed by the Mage Hands.

The dense barrage of missiles exceeded the Blademaster leader's limit of endurance.

In less than a tenth of a second, the Blademaster leader was turned into a sieve, falling heavily to the ground.

...